Method and apparatus for adaptively allocating a spare area in a recording medium, and a recording medium having a spare area allocated using the same

ABSTRACT

A method and apparatus for allocating a spare area to a recording medium, and a recording medium thereof. The method includes recording data in a data area of the recording medium according to a first recording operation, creating information regarding the adjusted spare area size, based on a defect contained in the recorded data, recording the information regarding the spare area and information regarding the defect, in the data recorded according to the first recording operation, as first temporary defect information in the data area, and recording defect management information for managing the first temporary defect information as first temporary defect management information in a temporary defect management information area which is present in at least one of a lead-in area, a lead-out area, and an outer area of the recording medium. Accordingly, a spare area is allocated to a recording medium according to the occurrence rate of defects in the recording medium, resulting in effective use of a data area.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/657,712, filed Sep. 9, 2003, the disclosure of which is incorporatedherein by reference. The prior application claims the benefit of KoreanPatent Application No. 2002-54754 filed on Sep. 10, 2002, in KoreanIntellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporatedherein in its entirety by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an allocating of a spare area to arecording medium, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus forallocating a spare area to a recording medium for defect management, anda recording medium thereof.

2. Description of the Related Art

Generally, for defect management purposes, a spare area is allocated toa data area of a recording medium. The allocation of the spare areacauses the data area to be divided into a user data area and the sparearea. The spare area is an area of the recording medium reserved for usewhen a defect occurs in the data area. When the defect occurs, user datacan be recorded in the spare area, thereby enabling a complete recordingof user data to a recording medium.

In general, the allocating, in the recording medium, of the spare areais performed during initialization. A ratio of the spare area to thedata area is determined based on a defect rate of a recording medium,the characteristics of data to be recorded, the size of the data area,etc.

However, when defects occur more frequently than expected, the sparearea may become entirely filled with data, before completing datarecording in the user data area. The exhaustion of the spare areaprevents defect management from being performed on the remaining portionof the user data area. In contrast, a large part of the spare area maybe left to be unused when defects occur less frequently than expected.In the former case, the size of the spare area, associated with the dataarea, ends up being excessively small, whereas in the latter case, thesize of the spare area ends up being excessively large. For both cases,the data area is not efficiently used.

Defect management can be defined as a rewriting of user data, of aportion of a user data area in which a defect is detected, in a newportion of data area of a recording medium, thereby compensating for aloss in data caused by the defect. In general, defect management isperformed using linear replacement or slipping replacement. In linearreplacement, a user data area, in which a defect occurs, is replacedwith a spare data area having no defects. In slipping replacement, userdata recorded in a user data area having a defect is slipped to berecorded in the next user data area having no defects.

Both linear replacement and slipping replacement are applicable only torecording media such as a DVD-RAM/RW on which data can be repeatedlyrecorded and where recording can be performed using a random accessmethod. It is difficult to apply linear replacement and slippingreplacement to a write once recording medium, where recording is allowedonly once. In general, the presence of defects in a recording medium isdetected by recording data on the recording medium and confirming, basedon the recorded data, whether or not data can be recorded on therecording medium. However, once data is recorded on a write oncerecording medium, it is impossible to overwrite new data and managedefects therein.

Meanwhile, after the development of CD-Rs and DVD-Rs, high-density writeonce recording media have been introduced, with the high-density writeonce recording media having a recording capacity of several dozens ofgiga-bytes (GB). These recording media can be used as backup recordingmedia, since they are not expensive and allow random access whichenables fast reading operations. However, defect management is notavailable for write once recording media. Therefore, a backup operationis discontinued when a defective area, i.e., an area where a defectoccurs, is detected during the backup operation, because defectmanagement on a write once recording medium is not performed. Ingeneral, a backup operation is performed when a system is not frequentlyused, e.g., at night when a system manager does not operate the system.In this case, it is more likely that a backup operation is stopped whena defective area of a write once recording medium is detected.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a method and apparatus for moreefficiently allocating a spare area to a recording medium according toan occurrence rate of defects in the recording medium, thus enablingefficient use of a data area, and a recording medium having a spare areaallocated thereon using these methods and apparatuses.

The present invention also provides a method and apparatus forallocating a spare area to a write once recording medium according to anoccurrence rate of defects in the recording medium, thus enablingefficient use of a data area, and a recording medium having a spare areaallocated thereon using these methods and apparatuses.

Additional aspects and/or advantages of the invention will be set forthin part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obviousfrom the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided amethod of allocating a spare area for a recording medium, includingrecording data in a data area of the recording medium according to afirst recording operation, creating information regarding an adjustmentof a size of an allocated spare area of the recording medium, based on adefect detected in the recorded data during the first recordingoperation, recording the information regarding the adjustment of thesize of the spare area and information regarding the defect, in the datarecorded according to the first recording operation, as first temporarydefect information in the data area of the recording medium, andrecording defect management information to the recording medium formanaging the first temporary defect information as first temporarydefect management information in a temporary defect managementinformation area of the recording medium in at least one of a lead-inarea, a lead-out area, and an outer area of the recording medium.

There may be a repeating of another recording of data in the data area,a recording of another spare area size adjustment information, arecording of additional defect information, and recording of defectmanagement information on the recording medium, and creating informationregarding the additional adjusted spare area size while increasing anindex of another recording operation, another temporary defectinformation area, and the temporary defect management information, by 1,and a recording a lastly recorded temporary defect managementinformation and temporary defect information in a defect management area(DMA) of the recording medium in at least one of the lead-in area, thelead-out area, and the outer area of the recording medium.

The creating of the information regarding the adjustment of the size ofthe allocated spare area may include calculating an occurrence rate ofdefects, and creating information regarding the adjustment of the sizeof the allocated spare area based on the calculated occurrence rate. Thecreating of the information regarding the adjustment of the size of theallocated spare area based on the calculated occurrence rate may use theoccurrence rate of defects and the adjustment of the size of theallocated spare area, or the occurrence rate of defects and a mappingtable in which possible positions of the spare area are mapped.

The recording of data in the data area of the recording medium accordingto the first recording operation may include recording data inpredetermined units of data on the recording medium, verifying therecorded data to detect an area of the recorded data in which a defectoccurs, storing information designating the area having the defect andsubsequent area, in which data is recorded after the area having thedefect, as a defective area, in memory, recording data, on the recordingmedium, after the defective area in predetermined units, and therecording of the adjustment of the size of the allocated spare area andthe defect information comprises reading the first temporary defectinformation from the memory and recording the read first temporarydefect information in a first temporary defect information area of thedata area on the recording medium.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provideda a recording or recording and reproducing apparatus, including arecording/reading unit to record/read data on/from a recording medium,and a controller to control the recording/reading unit to recordinformation, regarding a defect in data recorded in a data area of therecording medium according to a first recording operation, as firsttemporary defect information in the data area, to adjust a size of aspare area, of the recording medium, based on the defect and to controlthe recording/reading unit to record information regarding an adjustmentof a size of the spare area in a first temporary defect managementinformation area, and to control the recording/reading unit to recorddefect management information to manage the first temporary defectinformation area as first temporary defect management information in atemporary defect management information area on the recording medium inat least one of a lead-in area and a lead-out area of the recordingmedium.

The controller may control the recording/reading unit to record data inthe data area while increasing an index of another recording operation,another temporary defect information, and another temporary defectmanagement information, by 1, and control the recording/reading unit torecord a lastly recorded temporary defect management information andtemporary defect information in a defect management area, on therecording medium in at least one of the lead-in area and the lead-outarea of the recording medium.

The controller may calculate an occurrence rate of defects in the datarecorded according to the first recording operation and adjusts theadjustment of a size of the allocated spare area based on the calculatedoccurrence rate.

The controller may control the recording unit to record data inpredetermined units of data according to a predetermined recordingoperation, verifie the recorded data to detect the defect in therecorded data, creating defective area information, used to designate anarea of the recording medium having the defect and data recorded afterthe area having the defect, as a defective area, and store the defectivearea information as an ith temporary defect information in a memory,control the recording unit to record data in predetermined units of dataafter the defective area according to the predetermined recordingoperation, and control the recording/reading unit to read the ithtemporary defect information from the memory after completing recordingof data according to the predetermined recording operation and recordthe read data in an ith temporary defect information area of the dataarea on the recording medium.

According to a further aspect of the present invention, there isprovided a write once recording medium having a single record layer inwhich a lead-in area, a data area, and a lead-out area are sequentiallyformed, the recording medium including a defect management area on therecording medium in at least one of the lead-in area and the lead-outarea, and a temporary defect management information area which ispresent in at least one of the lead-in area and the lead-out area and inwhich information regarding a spare area is recorded to enable defectmanagement of the recording medium.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and/or other aspects and advantages of the present inventionwill become more apparent by describing in detail embodiments thereofwith reference to the attached drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a recording apparatus according to anembodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate structures of recording media according to anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 illustrates structures of the recording media shown in FIGS. 2Aand 2B;

FIG. 4 is a detailed diagram illustrating recording operations accordingto an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a relationship between a spare area andspare area information;

FIGS. 6A and 6B illustrate data structures of temporary defectinformation #1 and #2 according to an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 7 illustrates a data structure of a spare area according to anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 illustrates a data structure of a spare area according to anotherembodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a method for allocating a spare areato a recording medium according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENT

The present invention will now be described more fully with reference tothe accompanying drawings, in which embodiments of the invention areshown.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a recording apparatus according to anembodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 1, the recordingapparatus includes a recording/reading unit 1, a controller 2, and amemory 3. The recording/reading unit 1 records data on a recordingmedium 100, e.g., an optical disc, and reads the data from the recordingmedium 100 so as to verify the accuracy of the recorded data. Thecontroller 2 performs defect management and allocates a spare area tothe recording medium 100 according to an occurrence rate of defects. Forinstance, the controller 2 increases the size of the spare area in therecording medium 100 when the occurrence rate of defects is larger thana predetermined threshold, and reduces the size of the spare area whenthe occurrence rate is smaller than the predetermined threshold.Information regarding the adjusted spare area size is recorded in atemporary defect information area of the recording medium 100, explainedbelow in more detail. Here, there is no limit regarding a range of thepredetermined threshold. However, the predetermined threshold isgenerally appropriately determined based on a general occurrence rate ofdefects.

In this embodiment, the controller 2 uses a verify-after-write method.That is, the controller 2 controls the recording/reading unit 1 torecord data in predetermined units and verify the accuracy of therecorded data. Next, the controller 2 creates defect informationindicating the position of a defective area of the recording medium 100and stores it in the memory 3. Every time defect information is created,new defect information is stored in the memory 3. When the amount of thedefect information reaches a predetermined level, the controller 2records the defect information as temporary defect information on therecording medium 100. The controller 2 calculates the occurrence rate ofdefects and adjusts the size of the spare area based on the calculatedoccurrence rate. Information regarding the adjusted spare area size isadded to the defect information for recording in the temporary defectinformation area of the recording medium 100. The temporary defectinformation and management information for managing spare areainformation are recorded as temporary defect management information onthe recording medium 100.

In this embodiment, the adjusted spare area size is periodicallyrecorded in recording operation units. Thus, the spare area informationas well as the temporary defect information is periodically recorded inrecording operation units. In general, the recording operation is a unitof work determined according to user's intention or a recording work tobe performed. According to this embodiment, a recording operationindicates a process in which the recording medium 100 is loaded into therecording apparatus, data is recorded on the recording medium 100, andthe recording medium 100 is taken out from the recording apparatus.During the recording operation performed several times, generally datais recorded and verified at least once. Defect information obtainedafter the verify-after-write method is stored as the temporary defectinformation in the memory 3.

When a user presses an eject button (not shown), of the recordingapparatus, in order to remove the recording medium 100 after recordingof data, the controller 2 expects the recording operation to beterminated. Then, the controller 2 adjusts the size of the spare areabased on the temporary defect information stored in the memory 3.Further, the controller 2 controls the spare area information and thetemporary defect information and the management information, formanaging the temporary defect information, to be recorded as thetemporary defect management information on the recording medium 100.

If the recording of data on the recording medium 100 is completed, nomore data will be recorded on the recording medium 100, i.e., therecording medium 100 is to be finalized, and the controller 2 recordsthe temporary defect information and the temporary defect managementinformation in a defect management area (DMA) of the recording medium100.

FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate structures of the recording medium 100 ofFIG. 1 according to embodiments of the present invention. In detail,FIG. 2A illustrates the recording medium 100 having a single recordlayer recording medium with a record layer L0. The recording medium 100includes a lead-in area, a data area, and a lead-out area. The lead-inarea is located in an inner radial portion of the recording medium 100and the lead-out area is located in an outer radial portion of therecording medium 100. The data area is present between the lead-in areaand the lead-out area, and divided into a user data area and a sparearea, with the user data area being an area where user data is recorded

According to embodiments of the present invention, the size of a sparearea is variable because the size can be adjusted based on theoccurrence rate of defects in the recording medium 100. The spare areasubstitutes for the user data area having a defect to ensure that databeing recorded to the user data area is not lost, due to the defect.Preferably, the spare area initially amounts to about 5% of the entiredata capacity of the recording medium 100, so that more data can berecorded on the recording medium 100. Also, it is preferable that thespare area is located at an end of a recording area of the recordingmedium 100. Especially, in the case of a write once recording medium,the spare area must be located at an end of a recording area of therecording medium so that slipping replacement is performed while thespare area data is recorded, starting from an inner radial portiontoward an outer radial portion of the recording medium 100.

FIG. 2B illustrates a recording medium 100 being a double record layerrecording medium with two recording layers L0 and L1. A lead-in area, adata area, and an outer area are sequentially formed from an innerradial portion of the first record layer L0 to an outer radial portion.Also, an outer area, a data area, and a lead-out area are sequentiallyformed from an outer radial portion of the second record layer L1 to aninner radial portion. Unlike the single record layer recording medium ofFIG. 2A, the lead-out area of recording medium 100 in FIG. 2B is presentin the inner radial portion of the recording medium 100. That is, therecording medium 100 of FIG. 2B has an opposite track path (OTP) wheredata is recorded starting from the lead-in area of the first recordlayer L0 toward the outer area and continues from the outer area of thesecond record layer L1 to the lead-out area. The respective spare areasare allocated in the first and second record layers L0 and L1. In therecording medium 100 of FIG. 2B, the spare areas are allocated at theend of each recording layer the recording medium 100, in a recordingdirection, so that their sizes can be changed while data is recorded,when slipping replacement is performed along the OTP.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of the structure of the recording medium100 shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, according to another embodiment of thepresent invention. Referring to FIG. 3, a DMA is present in at least oneof a lead-in area, a lead-out area, and an outer area of the recordingmedium 100. Also, a temporary defect management area is formed in atleast one of the lead-in area and the lead-out area. During everyrecording operation, a temporary defect information area is formed inthe data area and the size of a spare area is adjusted and re-allocated.

In general, information which relates to managing defects in therecording medium 100 is recorded in the DMA. Such information includes astructure of the recording medium 100 for defect management, theposition of defect information, whether defect management is performedor not, and the position and size of a spare area, for example. In thecase of a write once recording medium, new data is recorded afterpreviously recorded data when the previously recorded data changes. Ingeneral, when a recording medium is loaded into a recording or recordingand reproducing apparatus, the apparatus reads data from a lead-in areaand a lead-out area of the recording medium to determine how to managethe recording medium and how to record or read data to or from therecording medium. However, if the amount of data recorded in the lead-inarea increases, more time will be spent preparing the recording orreproducing of data after loading the recording medium. Accordingly,embodiments of the present invention utilize temporary defect managementinformation and temporary defect information. That is, only thetemporary defect management information, which is comparatively moreimportant than the temporary defect information, is recorded in thelead-in area and the temporary defect information is recorded in thedata area. Information regarding the spare area is recorded in thetemporary defect information area.

It is preferable that new information is added to the previouslyrecorded information in the temporary defect information so that allrecorded information is accumulated therein. The recording/reproducingapparatus reads the last recorded temporary defect information toidentify defects throughout the recording medium. Thus, informationregarding the location of the last recorded temporary defect informationis recorded in the temporary defect management information area wherethe temporary defect management information is recorded.

More specifically, information regarding a defect occurring in therecorded data, and information regarding the size of the spare area,adjusted during recording operation #1, are recorded in temporary defectinformation area #1. Also, information regarding a defect occurringduring recording operation #2, and information regarding the size of thespare area adjusted during recording operation #2, are recorded intemporary defect information area #2. Defect management information formanaging temporary defect information areas #1, #2, . . . , #i isrecorded in the temporary defect management information area, with ibeing an integer. If no more data can be recorded on the recordingmedium 100 or a user does not want to record any more data on therecording medium 100, the recording medium 100 needs to be finalized andthe temporary defect information, recorded in the temporary defectinformation area, and the temporary defect management information,recorded in the temporary defect management information area, arerecorded in the DMA. Recording of information regarding the spare areais optional.

The reason for recording the temporary defect management information andthe temporary defect information in the DMA, will now be explained. Whenno more data is to be recorded on the recording medium 100, and therecording medium 100 needs to be finalized, the temporary defectmanagement information, which is updated several times, and thetemporary defect information recorded in the data area, are recorded inthe DMA of the lead-in area, thereby enabling fast reading ofinformation recorded in the recording medium 100. It is also possible toincrease the reliability of reproducing the recorded information byrecording the defect management information in a plurality of areas.

In this embodiment, defect information recorded in temporary defectinformation areas #0 through #i-1 is repeatedly recorded in thesubsequent temporary defect information areas. Therefore, it issufficient to read the defect information from the last temporary defectinformation area and record the read information in the DMA during thefinalizing of the recording medium 100. Meanwhile, it is not preferableto record spare area information recorded in preceding temporary defectinformation areas #1, #2, #3, . . . , and #i-1 in temporary defectinformation area #i, because only recently updated spare areainformation is available.

In the case of a high-density recording medium having recording capacityof several dozens of GB, e.g., high-density blue ray optical disc, it isdesirable that a great amount of temporary defect management information#i, which is recorded in the temporary defect management informationarea and corresponds to temporary defect information area #i, isassigned about 1 cluster, with the size of temporary defect informationarea #i being set from 4 to 8 clusters. This is because it is preferableto record new information in units of clusters in order to updateinformation when a minimum physical recording unit is a cluster,although the amount of information recorded in temporary defectinformation area #i is just about several KB. Meanwhile, it ispreferable that a total amount of defects allowed in a recording mediumbe about 5 percent of the recording medium recording capacity. Forinstance, about 4-8 clusters are required to record temporary defectinformation #i, considering that information regarding a defect assumesabout 8 bytes and the size of a cluster is about 64 KB.

The verify-after-write method can be performed in temporary defectinformation area #i and temporary defect management information #i. Whena defect is detected, information is recorded again in adjacent areas.

FIG. 4 is a detailed diagram illustrating recording operations accordingto an embodiment of the present invention.

In the embodiment represented by FIG. 4, data may be processed in unitsof sectors or clusters. A sector denotes a minimum unit of data that ismanaged in a file system of a computer or an application, and a clusterdenotes a minimum unit of data that can be physically recorded on arecording medium at one time. In general, one or more sectors constitutea cluster.

There are two types of sectors: a physical sector and a logical sector.The physical sector is an area where a sector of data may be recorded ona recording medium. An address for detecting the physical sector iscalled a physical sector number (PSN). The logical sector is a sectorunit for managing data in a file system or an application recorded inphysical sectors on the recording medium, and an address for detectingthe logical sector is called a logical sector number (LSN). Arecording/reproducing apparatus detects the position of data to berecorded on a recording medium using a PSN. Whole data is managed inunits of LSNs in a computer or an application which records data on arecording medium, i.e., the position of data to be recorded is detectedusing the LSN. The relationship between a LSN and a PSN is controlled bya controller of the recording/reproducing apparatus, based on whether ornot a recording medium contains a defect, where the defect is present,and a physical sector number of an initial position of recording data.

Referring to FIG. 4, A denotes a data area in which PSNs have beenallocated to a plurality of sectors (not shown) in ascending order. Ingeneral, each LSN corresponds to at least one PSN. However, since LSNsare allocated to sectors, except for a defective sector, in ascendingorder, correspondences between individual PSNs and LSNs are notmaintained when a recording medium has a defective area, even if thesize of a physical sector is the same as that of a logical sector.

In FIG. 4, data unit sections {circle around (1)} through {circle around(9)} denote a series of recorded units of data, with correspondingverifications being performed after each recording. In detail, arecording apparatus records user data in section {circle around (1)},returns to the start of section {circle around (1)}, and starts checkingif the user data has been appropriately recorded or whether a defect hasoccurred. If a defect is detected, an area covering the defect and datarecorded after the defect in section {circle around (1)} is designatedas defect area #1. Next, the recording apparatus records the user datain section {circle around (2)}, returns to the start of section {circlearound (2)}, and checks if the user data is appropriately recorded orwhether a defect has occurred. If a defect is detected, an area coveringthe defect and data recorded after the defect in section {circle around(2)} is designated as defect area #2. Likewise, defect area #3 isdesignated in section {circle around (3)}. However, since a defect isnot detected in section {circle around (4)}, a defective area is notdesignated in section {circle around (4)}.

Because the recording medium 100, according to an embodiment of thepresent invention, is a write once recording medium, it is desirablethat data recorded after an area having a defect is not used and an areacovering data recorded after the defect is designated a defective area,as well as the area covering the defect. Assuming that LSN i isallocated to an area where data is recorded, after an area having adefect, in order to use the data, the area where data is recorded afterthe area having LSN i must be denoted as LSN i-1 for data reproduction.However, if there is a section to which LSNs are not allocated, inascending order, it is not easy to manage logic sectors. Therefore, inthis embodiment, all of data areas after a defective area are alsoregarded as being defective areas, thereby increasing the efficiency ofmanaging logic sectors.

The size of the spare area is readjusted based on the number ofpreviously detected defects, when recording operation #1 is expected toend, after the recording and verifying of data to the section {circlearound (4)}, i.e., when a user presses an eject button of a recordingapparatus or recording of user data during recording operation #1 iscompleted. Information regarding defects #1 through #3, occurring in thesections {circle around (1)} through {circle around (4)}, and spare areainformation are recorded in temporary defect information area #1. Thus,temporary defect information area #1 contains information of defectiveareas for recording operation #1, and information regarding the adjustedspare area size. Further, the size of the spare area is also readjustedin consideration of defects occurring in sections {circle around(6)}-{circle around (8)}, when recording operation #2 is expected toend. Temporary defect information #2 contains information of defectiveareas for recording operation #2, the information recorded in temporarydefect information area #1, and spare area information.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a relationship between a spare area andthe spare area information. Referring to FIG. 5, the spare areainformation is recorded in temporary defect information areas #1 and #2,for example. When recording operation #1 is expected to end, the size ofthe spare area is adjusted and information regarding the adjusted sparearea size is recorded in temporary defect information area #1. The sparearea information recorded in temporary defect information area #1 holdsinformation regarding the spare area, the size of which is adjusted.Similarly, the spare area information recorded in temporary defectinformation area #2 holds information regarding the spare area, the sizeof which is again adjusted. After termination of recording operation #2,the spare area information is updated and recorded in temporary defectinformation area #2.

FIGS. 6A and 6B illustrate data structures of temporary defectinformation #1 and #2 according to embodiments of the present invention.Referring to FIG. 6A, temporary defect information #1 containsinformation regarding defects #1 through #3. The information regardingthe defect #1 describes the position of the defect #1, the informationregarding the defect #2 describes the position of the defect #2, and theinformation regarding the defect #3 describes the position of the defect#3.

Information regarding temporary defect information #1 is furthercontained in temporary defect information #1. The information regardingtemporary defect information #1 includes the position of temporarydefect information #1. However, temporary defect information #1 does notcontain user data, and thus, it is not reproduced as user data duringreproduction of user data. That is, for the reproduction of the userdata, it is meaningless to distinguish between defective area #i andtemporary defect information #1 because the user data is not containedtherein. In conclusion, temporary defect information #1 containsinformation regarding its position, i.e., information regardingtemporary defect information #1, and thus can be used as usefulinformation, for example, to indicate that the information is temporarydefect information and not user data.

In addition, information regarding the spare area is contained intemporary defect information #1. The information regarding the sparearea provides information regarding the spare area set after terminationof recording operation #1, enabling a recording apparatus to detect theposition and size of the spare area for recording operation #2.

Referring to FIG. 6B, temporary defect information #2 containsinformation regarding defects #4 and #5, in addition to the informationcontained in temporary defect information #1. Temporary defectinformation #2 also contains information regarding temporary defectinformation #2, which indicates the position of temporary defectinformation #2, for the same reason as in temporary defect information#1. Also, spare area information is further contained in temporarydefect information #2. The information regarding the spare area providesinformation regarding the spare area set after termination of recordingoperation #2, enabling a recording apparatus to detect the position andsize of the spare area for a next recording operation.

In this embodiment, information regarding defect #i includes informationregarding the state of, e.g., state information, and the starting andending positions of defect #i. In general, the state information isunderstood to be flag information that indicates whether a present areais a defective area or an area where temporary defect information isrecorded. In the information regarding defect #i, the state informationis the flag information which indicates that the present area is adefective area. The information regarding the starting positionrepresents the start of the present area, i.e., the start of the defect#i. The information regarding the ending position represents the end ofthe present area, i.e., the end of the defect #i. Information regardingtemporary defect information #i also includes information regarding thestate of and the starting and ending positions of temporary defectinformation #i. In general, the state information is understood to beflag information that indicates whether a present area is a defectivearea where a defect occurs or an area where temporary defect informationis recorded. In the information regarding temporary defect information#i, the state information is the flag information which indicates thatthe present area is an area in which temporary defect information isrecorded, rather than a defective area.

FIG. 7 illustrates a data structure of a spare area according to anembodiment of the present invention. FIG. 8 illustrates a data structureof a spare area according to another embodiment of the presentinvention.

Referring to FIG. 7, spare area information indicates a startingposition of the spare area. The starting position can be representedwith a PSN. Referring to FIG. 8, spare area information indicates a sizeof the spare area. In this embodiment, since the ending position of thespare area is fixed, it is possible to easily detect the startingposition of the spare area based on the information regarding the sizeof the spare area.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a method of allocating a spare areain a recording medium according to an embodiment of the presentinvention. Referring to FIG. 9, in operation 901, a recording apparatuscreates information regarding a defect in the data area, which isrecorded on the recording medium according to a first recordingoperation, in order to manage a defect occurring in the recordingmedium. In operation 902, an occurrence rate of defects is calculatedbased on the defect in the data recorded, according to the firstrecording operation, and a size of a spare area is adjusted based on thecalculated occurrence rate. Here, the recording apparatus may include amapping table in which information regarding the sizes (or positions) ofthe spare area, which correspond to several occurrence rates of defects,is mapped for adjustment of the size of the spare area. In operation903, the recording apparatus records information regarding the adjustedspare area size, as well as the defect information created in operation901, in a first temporary defect information area. In operation 904, therecording apparatus records first defect management information formanaging the first temporary defect information area in a temporarydefect management information area in the recording medium.

Next, it is checked whether the recording medium needs to be finalized,in operation 905. If it is determined that the recording medium does notneed to be finalized, operations 901 through 904 are repeated while anindex, given to the recording operation, the temporary defectinformation area, and the temporary defect management information, isincreased by 1, in operation 906. In operation 907, if it is determinedin operation 905 that the recording medium needs to be finalized, thelast recorded temporary defect management information and thecorresponding temporary defect information, are recorded in a DMA, andinformation of the position of the last recorded data is recorded in adata area. That is, the last recorded temporary defect managementinformation and temporary defect information are recorded as the finaltemporary defect management information and temporary defect informationin the DMA. It is preferable that the spare area information is notrecorded in the DMA, because the presence of the spare area becomesmeaningless once the recording medium is finalized. Instead, informationregarding the position of recorded data in a user data area, i.e., PSNsand LSNs, are recorded in the DMA.

The final temporary information and final defect management informationmay be repeatedly recorded in the DMA so as to increase the reliabilityof data detection. Further, the verify-after-write method may beperformed on the final temporary defect management information andtemporary defect information. If a defect is detected from these twopieces of information, an area of the recording medium in which thedefect occurs, and data recorded after the area having the defect, maybe regarded as being unavailable, i.e., they are designated as adefective area, and the final temporary defect management informationand temporary defect information may be again recorded after thedefective area.

Meanwhile, in the aforementioned embodiments, the size of a spare areais periodically adjusted per recording operation, but a period of theadjustment is not limited. For instance, the size of the spare area maybe adjusted for every other recording operation.

As described above, the present invention provides a method andapparatus that allocate a spare area according to an occurrence rate ofdefects in a recording medium, resulting in efficient use of a dataarea, and a recording medium having a spare area thereon using methodsand apparatuses of embodiments of the present invention. In particular,defects occurring in write once recording medium can be managed and aspare area can be allocated according to the occurrence rate of defectsin a recording medium, whereby a data area can be efficiently used.

While this invention has been particularly shown and described withreference to preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood bythose skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may bemade therein without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention as defined by the appended claims.

1. A write once recording medium comprising at least one record layer inwhich a lead-in area, a data area, and a lead-out area are sequentiallyformed, the recording medium comprising: a defect management area on therecording medium in at least one of the lead-in area and lead-out area;and a temporary defect management information area which is present inat least one of the lead-in area and the lead-out area and in whichinformation regarding a starting position of a spare area is recorded toenable defect management of the recording medium.
 2. A write oncerecording medium comprising at least one record layer in which a lead-inarea, a data area, and a lead-out area are sequentially formed, therecording medium comprising: a defect management area on the recordingmedium in at least one of the lead-in area and lead-out area; and atemporary defect management information area which is present in atleast one of the lead-in area and the lead-out area and in whichinformation regarding a size of a spare area is recorded to enabledefect management of the recording medium.
 3. A recording or recordingand reproducing apparatus, comprising: a recording/reading unit torecord/read data on/from a recording medium in which a lead-in area, adata area, and a lead-out area are formed and a defect management areais arranged in at least one of the lead-in area and lead-out area; and acontroller to control the recording/reading unit to record informationregarding a starting position of a spare area in a temporary defectmanagement information area which is present in at least one of thelead-in area and the lead-out area to enable defect management of therecording medium.
 4. A recording or recording and reproducing apparatus,comprising: a recording/reading unit to record/read data on/from arecording medium in which a lead-in area, a data area, and a lead-outarea are formed and a defect management area is arranged in at least oneof the lead-in area and lead-out area; and a controller to control therecording/reading unit to record information regarding a size of a sparearea in a temporary defect management information area which is presentin at least one of the lead-in area and the lead-out area to enabledefect management of the recording medium.